Second article, damn sounds like just some quick bucks and also useless.
https://finbold.com/ripple-reveals-8-countries-building-cbdcs-on-xrp-ledger/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbloomberg/2019/03/01/is-ripple-a-scam/?sh=58a5d65b79a4
Subjective with links worth looking into - https://www.reddit.com/r/Ripple/comments/grhqu2/a_closer_look_at_ripples_distribution_of_xrp/
Discussion
That one was just what I was looking for